Day 32 Santa Barbara

Today we celebrated Marielle's eighteenth birthday. Right at breakfast, we surprised her with a giant cupcake and gifts. Then we went to the beach in Santa Barbara.

It was very beautiful and there was a wonderful cool breeze that made the stifling heat bearable. The boys rented a kayak and the rest of the family sunbathed on the sand. Taking a dip in the Pacific required some courage. It's not quite the same water temperature as we're used to from the Mediterranean.
After the boys returned their kayak after three hours and we felt completely toasted, we returned to our summer cottage. Soon it became apparent that we had completely underestimated the sun and we all got a wonderful sunburn.

Nevertheless, we got ready for our evening outing. After all, we wanted to celebrate Marielle's birthday with a nice dinner. Thanks to Tripadvisor, we also found a wonderful beach restaurant. But before that, we took a few photos of the birthday girl and the rest of the family on the sandy beach.